Probe claims Israel shelled journalists in October, may have fired machine gun at them

An Israeli tank crew killed a Reuters reporter in Lebanon in October by firing two shells at a clearly identified group of journalists and then “likely” opened fire on them with a heavy machine gun in an attack that lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds, an organization says.

A report by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, or TNO, which was contracted by Reuters to analyze evidence from the October 13 attack that killed visual journalist Issam Abdallah, finds that a tank 1.34 kilometers (0.8 miles) away in Israel fired two 120 mm rounds at the reporters.

The first shell killed Abdallah, 37, and severely wounded Agence France-Presse photographer Christina Assi, 28.

TNO says audio picked up by an Al Jazeera video camera at the scene showed the reporters also came under fire from 0.50 caliber rounds of the type used by the Browning machine guns that can be mounted on Israel’s Merkava tanks. Israeli tanks, however, are mounted with FN MAG light machine guns, which use smaller 7.62 mm caliber rounds.

In this photo provided by Reuters, Issam Abdallah, a videographer for the news agency, poses for a selfie while working in Maras, Turkey, on Feb. 11, 2023. Abdallah was killed Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, when an Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon. Six other journalists were injured in the incident. (Issam Abdallah/Reuters via AP)

“It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists,” TNO’s report says. “The latter cannot be concluded with certainty as the direction and exact distance of [the machine gun] fire could not be established.”

Reuters cannot independently determine if the Israeli tank crew knew it was firing on journalists, nor whether it also shot at them with a machine gun and, if so, why.

Neither of the two surviving Reuters reporters or another AFP journalist at the scene remembered the machine gun fire. All said they were in shock at the time.

The camera of a photographer who was injured by Israeli shelling, is left on the ground at the Alma al-Shaab border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing one and leaving six others injured. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The Israel Defense Forces does not respond to requests for comment about any aspect of the attack on journalists.

Asked to comment on TNO’s preliminary findings in December, the IDF said: “We don’t target journalists.”

A day after a Reuters investigation into the incident was published, it said the incident took place in an active combat zone.